The now habit
a strategic program for overcoming procrastination and enjoying guilt-free play
by Neil Fiore · first published 1988
75% recommend22% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Psychology-first guide to procrastination that explains why people stall and the stress behind it, then gives practical tools like scheduling guilt-free play and time boxing. Suits chronic procrastinators.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Originally published by Tarcher in 1988, The Now Habit has sold more than 58,000 copies, and is as relevant as ever!Author Neil Fiore offers the first comprehensive strategy to overcome the causes of procrastination and to eliminate its deleterious effects. His techniques will help any busy person get more things done more quickly, without the anxiety and stress brought on by failure to meet the workplace's pressing deadlines.This revised, redesigned edition includes a new introduction and a section that provides strategies to understand and deal with the complex role technology plays in procr
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…walking around, socializing, etc. But they consistently show up and put in the work and it adds up to some amazing things over time. This reminds me of another great book about beating procrastination: The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play[2] In that book, the author talks about his extensive work helping graduate students complete their dissertations. I can't…
on “The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday” ↗Let me second the OP and recommend Neil Fiore's book "The Now Habit". There are lots of good strategies in that book, such as: The Unschedule * a weekly calendar of committed recreational activities and breaks, meals, etc * productive periods of work are recorded…
on “Procrastination is Not Laziness” ↗This is basically a stripped-down article version of The Now Habit [0], without the good bits, such as guilt-free play, the idea that you should set aside time to do whatever without constantly thinking "I should be working", or the Unschedule, where you mark down the…
on “To Stop Procrastinating, Look to Science of Mood Repair” ↗…roots of both parts (Why do I want to do this task? Why do I resist doing it?) usually helps. There's also a good book about the usual suspects behind the resistance and some weapons against them. "The Now Habit" by Neil Fiore. Fear of not doing the task perfectly, unconscious resistance to authority, etc.
on “Fooling myself to work” ↗…problems, would we? For a more rounded perspective on the subject of procrastination I suggest reading someone who observed a few hundreds of cases and helped in fixing most of them: http://www.amazon.com/Now-Habit-Overcoming-Procrastination-G...
on “Why do humans procrastinate?” ↗…"realizing your dreams" will solve your issues. It wont. You have a bad strategy and need to change it, or after the initial determination you will fall again. Read or hear the book or Audiobook "The now habit" by Doctor Neil Fiore to discover why your vision of the world is destroying you. Do not pity yourself but celebrate how fching lucky you are!! Find a woman and make her the happiest women on earth,fck…
on “I'm a loser and I want to change that - now” ↗You should checkout this book - http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/95708.The_Now_Habit
on “Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?” ↗I recommend "The Now Habit" book. I particularly like the "unschedule" trick. Instead of scheduling works and ending up procrastinating, schedule for fun activities instead and fill the unscheduled time with work. I'm not sure…
on “Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?” ↗I like some of the tips in this article. Notably turn off notifications, use email filters, put your phone in the other room. But after years and years of hearing people recommending Neil Fiore's "The Now Habit" I finally picked it up. By far the best piece of writing I've ever found on the subject. It's strange to feel so trapped by one's own procrastination. If you're a procrastinator I hope you find what…
I found Neil Fiore's "The Now Habit" a great complement to the GTD system. GTD tells me where to put a TODO and TNH helps when the neatly organized system of GTD inexplicably fails to function without my actions :-) Obviously both are only…
on “A Pragmatic Guide to Getting Things Done” ↗The Pomodoro Technique allows you to get into the flow faster by providing a structure that allows you to ignore distractions and complications. It meshes exceptionally well with Neil Fiore's "The Now Habit".
on “Research into the reasons for procrastination and how to stop” ↗…habits. I won't go into details about what I think - but two books that have helped me understand and deal with the symptoms (and possibly helped me help others) are: Do the Work - Steven Pressfield The Now Habit - Neil Fiore
on “Try exercise to improve memory, thinking” ↗buy a copy of The Now Habit by Neil Fiore. it's about overcoming procrastination, but the advice could definitely help you out in my opinion.
on “Ask HN: How to cope with professional anxiety/self-confidence in tech?” ↗…with that. So the problem is only partly identified to the reader. If this article at all interested or struck a chord with you then I strongly recommend an old-school procrastination book called The Now Habit by Niel Fiore to get a more complete explanation. Like many commenters that chime in on these procrastination threads, I am a chronic procrastinator, and feel like it’s really held me back in life. I…
on “Procrastination is not a time management problem, it is an emotion” ↗…together like a rats nest of wires. This is such an important point. I struggle with procrastination and learning the underlying causes are what helped me make huge progress. I cannot recommend "The Now Habit" enough to anyone who struggles with procrastination and guilt that surrounds it. It really was life changing for me. One of, if not the, most important books I've read. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/95708.The_Now_Habit
on “Being ‘Indistractable’” ↗